SC issues notice to KP govt over stone-crushing plants installation

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday issued notice to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government in a petition, challenging the vires of its Power Crushers (Installation, Operation and Regulation) Act, 2020 (KPK Act No 1 of 2020).

A three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Umer Ata Bandial, heard identical petitions, on the issue. The provincial government had enacted Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Power Crushers (Installation Operation and Registration Rules 1980 Amended in 2018, which was challenged by the locals in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) .

The high court had struck down the vires of the said rules. The provincial government, later on, filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the PHC order.

As the matter was pending before the apex court, the KP government also enacted the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Power Crushers (Installation, Operation and Regulation) Act, 2020 (KPK Act No. 1 of 2020.

On Tuesday the court took strong exception to the enactment of the new law and issued notice to the KP government. The court observed that the matter was pending before it, then how the provincial government enacted new law for installation of power crushers.

The court also summoned a comprehensive report from the experts of Environment Department of the province.

The locals complained to the court that as different parliamentarians were in the business of stone-crushing, the provincial government was not taking any action. They said people in Punjab had made hue and cry over the environmental hazards.

However, they added, in Abbottabad, people were greatly affected as the volume of environmental hazards was higher than Punjab.

Justice Bandial recalled that the apex court had directed the KP government to deal with the matter in accordance with the international standards, but noted that the local people being affected from the stone-crushing business had placed photographs of the cites where the stone-crushing machines had been installed.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, counsel for the stone-crushers, however told the court that his clients were determined to act in accordance with the international standards.

Additional Advocate General KP Zahid Yousaf informed the court that the provincial government, under the new law, had set parameters for installation of stone-crushers, saying that in rural areas, stone-crushers would be installed at a distance of 500 metres while in urban areas it will be installed at a distance of 300 meters from the population.

Similarly, he submitted that new parameters had been set for acquiring a licence for the said purpose, while no-objections certificate (NOC) would be required from the Department of Environment.

Meanwhile, the court declared earlier petitions of the parties concerned anfractuous and issued notice to the KP government on the new plea, challenging the vires of its Power Crushers (Installation, Operation and Regulation) Act, 2020 (KPK Act No. 1 of 2020).